There's one simple way the guy named as the creator of bitcoin could prove his identity

The identity of the creator of bitcoin is open to debate.
REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
On Wednesday, Gizmodo and Wired published twin bombshell reports alleging they had identified the inventor of bitcoin.

Known only by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, his/her/their identity has long been a mystery. Multiple news outlets have tried to "out" Satoshi before, but none conclusively.

The most high-profile — and notorious — report came from Newsweek, which claimed the inventor was Dorian Nakamoto, a reclusive Japanese-American man living in California. The story was subsequently widely dismissed as inaccurate.

So who's the latest candidate? It's a man called Craig Steven White, an Australian businessman and his dead friend, an American called David Kleiman.

Wired and Gizmodo came to this conclusion after they were leaked emails and other documents, apparently by a hacker. (Nathaniel Popper, a journalist who has written a book on bitcoin, says he was sent a "curious email" alleging Wright's involvement back in October, but he "didn't find it convincing at the time.")

Apparent evidence includes deleted blog posts, leaked emails, and a transcript of a meeting Wright had with lawyers. Wired's report argues that "either Wright invented bitcoin, or he's a brilliant hoaxer who very badly wants us to believe he did."

Still, not everyone in the bitcoin community is convinced. Many are calling for more evidence — and pointing out there are very easy ways for Wright to attempt to prove these claims once and for all.

One way would be for him to sign a message or email with his signature. Modern cryptography allows for users to sign messages with unique signatures to prove their identity: You can only generate your signature for a given message if you have possession of a unique "private key." This is easy for anyone to verify.

Satoshi is also believed to be sitting on a stash of bitcoin worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Because of the way the digital currency works, all transactions are publicly recorded (on a decentralised ledger called the blockchain). This means if someone is Satoshi, all they need to do is send bitcoin — even a tiny amount — from an address known to belong to Satoshi to prove their identity.

Of course, neither of these methods would prove that someone is Satoshi. They would merely prove that someone has access to Satoshi's private key, or bitcoin wallets. But it's better than nothing.

Among the doubters is Jeff Garzik, one of the core bitcoin developers. Expressing skepticism about the claims, he pointed out there have been fakers before, and says he won't settle for anything less than a cryptographic proof.

"Until it's PGP or private key signed message, anyone who comes forth with 'proof' can be a clever or well connected liar. There will be many sociopaths who would do this, don't surprise yourself," writes a Reddit user on r/bitcoin, a bitcoin community on Reddit.

"Show me a signed message with one of Satoshi's private keys and I will be more persuaded," Ryan X. Charles, a bitcoin developer, wrote on Twitter.

Nathaniel Popper, the journalist and bitcoin author, says he thinks the link is "very convincing," but "where I get stuck is the personality [of Wright compared to Satoshi]."